Netflix bulks up kids content with Scholastic deal

Netflix moved Thursday to further shore up its selection of kids videos after losing SpongeBob SquarePants and other Nickelodeon content earlier this year.

The online video company announced a deal with Scholastic to bring its movies and TV shows to Netflix's streaming video service.

Earlier this summer, Netflix added Scholastic's “The Magic School Bus' and “Goosebumps' to its lineup of kids shows for customers in the United States and Canada. As part of its new deal, Netflix will have the exclusive rights to stream those shows not online in the U.S. and Canada, but also in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It also will have the exclusive right to stream “The Magic School Bus' in Latin America.

Additionally, Netflix will add videos based on popular kids books, including “Harry the Dirty Dog,' “Stellaluna,' “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,' and “The Snowy Day.'

Earlier this year, Netflix declined to renew a deal with Viacom that resulted in the company losing the rights to a swath of content from that company's Nickelodeon division. In addition to SpongeBob, “Dora the Explorer' and “Blues Clues' dropped off Netflix's service, a development that angered many Netflix customers.

The company has been trying to make it up to them. Earlier this year, the company expanded its Deals with Disney and Dreamworks Animation to bring more kids content from those studios to its service. More recently, the company announced a deal with PBS that gives it exclusive rights to the kids show “Super Why' and adds other kids content including “Wild Kratts and “Arthur' to its library.

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The deal with Scholastic comes as Amazon has been bulking up its own offerings of streaming kids content. The e-commerce giant picked up the rights to the Nickelodeon shows after Netflix lost them. And it preceded Netflix with its own deal with PBS that includes the rights to stream kids shows including “Dinosaur Train,' “Wild Kratts' and “Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.'

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